Skills
Drupal, PHP and MySQL
My favourite CMS. Drupal is the most flexible of all the content managers and also one of the most powerful. It's highly modular and elegantly coded. I consider Drupal an excellent solution for almost any web project, which is why I've used it exclusively since 2006.
The Ubercart webshop module for Drupal is excellent. If you are considering building a webshop with tons of great features, scalable to any size with the back end power of one of the best content managers around then you can't do much better that ubercart. Plus of course, it's all open source.
This was once the best open source software available. I wouldn't suggest anyone use it these days as it's a complete pain to work with and the back end code is a real mess. Maybe they'll bring out a new version one day, but I think this project is over. EDIT: They did resurect this project, check out Magento (but then use drupal and drupal commerce ;)
If you need a simple forum website then Phorum WAS a very nice solution. It's very quick and powerful but I would usually point people towards using Drupal these days.
This is definitely the best open source gallery software there is. It has a very active community who regularly make great updates to their software. Cutting edge stuff. Gallery 3 is out now and looks really great.
Graphics
I have been using Photoshop since 1998, including 4 years using it almost every day.
I've always been interested in photography and whilst working for wildcat I learned a great deal about macro photography and how to make products look great.
I have had close working relations with print houses and have a good knowledge of graphics preparation for print.
I have a good knowledge of managing large print projects using this desk top publishing software, the largest of which was the Wildcat Catalogue with 192 pages full colour A4 and over 3,000 products.
Web Design
I rarely create pure html sites. More often I use html within a php script to create dynamic pages. I can use Dreamweaver but tend to write code by hand. I mostly write xhtml but recently have been getting more into html5.
I love css because it allows me to separate my design from my content. I can produce tableless web designs but often find that using a few tables is the most elegant and browser friendly solution.
I have a basic and growing understanding of javascript. I have implemented some clever 'off the shelf' javascripts in my sites to make them more visually stimulating. But for functionality I use them sparingly. Totally love jQuery and use it a lot more than traditional javascript.
Flash has been an interest of mine since 2000. I have an excellent knowledge of Actionscript and building complex sites. I very much enjoy adding physics simulations to my graphics. I've made many advertising banners for well known companies but in recent years have been moving away from flash content.
I sometimes use xml to store data, or to transport files of data between online and local systems. Have also written some pretty clever xml importers for drupal.
3d Graphics & Animation
Over the last few years I've been using Blender for my 3d work. Although it's open source there are many advantages of using it over other software. It can be used to make very tidy 3d meshes and has seemingly limitless potential. They have recently added a stack of new features including the ability to sculpt and paint models like in Z-brush. I like it a lot.
An excellent program used mainly for modelling beautiful organic objects in real time. You literally paint in 3d using a graphics tablet. I love it and can create very high quality models using it. I usually make models in Z-Brush and put them in 3dsMax or Blender to animate or render them. The Poibot 3d model for my dvd cover was created in Z-brush.
3dsMax was the main software I used for years. I have a good knowledge of various modelling, animation and rendering techniques. I haven't used 3dsMax for ages, blender is just way too much fun.
Video
Vegas is my preferred editor, although I also have a basic understanding of Premiere and After Effects.
I have acquired much knowledge about the production process: Filming, Capture, Storage, Editing, Rendering, Compression, DVD Authoring, File Formats, Codecs and so on, for both web video and dvd.
